Total No of Rhinos slaughtered in South Africa to Dec 31st 2017 = 1028. Official figures. Read my blog below for Headlines from around the World concerning the Global Catastrophe that is causing the biggest mass extinction since the Permian Period, and News of the fight to stop the slaughter of the Planet's Wildlife before it is too late.

Nature Explored

Thursday, 27 February 2014

The Tanzanian government has announced the sacking of the director
for wildlife, Alexander Songorwa, for failure to do his work properly.

Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Lazaro Nyalandu told a
press conference that Songorwa and his assistant, who was also
suspended, failed to oversee operation Tokomeza Ujangili (the anti-
poaching operation).

The operation, aiming to weed out poaching and illegal ivory trade in
various parts of the country, including evacuating those grazing
animals in conservation areas, was suspended last November following
reports of killings of animals, their owners and innocent citizens.

After the operation was suspended, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete
sacked four government ministers following accusations of abuses
committed by security forces. He made the dismissals after reports of
arbitrary murder, rape, torture and extortion of innocent civilians by
members of the anti-poaching crackdown.

Monday, 24 February 2014

Six rhinos have been killed in the last one week in spite of new
anti-poaching laws that stipulate hefty fines or life imprisonment for
offenders. One more rhino was wounded by poachers and is fighting for
its life at Ol Pejeta ranch in Laikipia.

The six were killed in Solio and Ol Jogi ranches and Nakuru National
Park, according to independent reports. Poachers killed two rhinos from
each of the three conservancy areas and chopped off the horns.
The rising wave has startled conservationists, who fear Kenya's new
punitive law may not have deterred poachers. Kenya is home to just over
1000 Rhinos.

Tuesday, 11 February 2014

The United States have announced a ban on the commercial trade of
elephant ivory, which will enhance our efforts to protect iconic species
like elephants and rhinos by prohibiting the import, export, or resale
within the United States of elephant ivory except in a very limited
number of circumstances.

The ban will include the following:
Prohibit commercial import of African elephant ivory: All commercial
imports of African elephant ivory, including antiques, will be
prohibited.
Prohibit commercial export of elephant ivory: All commercial exports
will be prohibited, except for bona fide antiques, certain noncommercial
items, and in exceptional circumstances permitted under the Endangered
Species Act.
Significantly restrict domestic resale of elephant ivory: A proposed
rule that will reaffirm and clarify that sales across state lines are
prohibited, except for bona fide antiques, and will prohibit sales
within a state unless the seller can demonstrate an item was lawfully
imported prior to 1990 for African elephants and 1975 for Asian
elephants, or under an exemption document.
Clarify the definition of “antique”: To qualify as an antique, an
item must be more than 100 years old and meet other requirements under
the Endangered Species Act. The onus will now fall on the importer,
exporter, or seller to demonstrate that an item meets these criteria.
Restore Endangered Species Act protection for African elephants: We
will revoke a previous Fish and Wildlife Service special rule that had
relaxed Endangered Species Act restrictions on African elephant ivory
trade.
Support limited sport-hunting of African elephants: It will limit the
number of African elephant sport-hunted trophies that an individual can
import to two per hunter per year.

During the conference, chaired by Foreign Secretary William Hague and
attended by the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince
Harry, world leaders from over forty nations vowed to help save iconic
species from the brink of extinction.

The London Declaration contains commitments for practical steps to
end the illegal trade in rhino horn, tiger parts and elephant tusks that
fuels criminal activity worth over $19 billion each year. The trade
also undermines economic opportunity in developing countries, and
threatens the survival of entire species.
Key states, including Botswana, Chad, China, Gabon, Ethiopia,
Indonesia, Tanzania, and Vietnam, alongside the United States and
Russia, have signed up to actions that will help eradicate the demand
for wildlife products, strengthen law enforcement, and support the
development of sustainable livelihoods for communities affected by
wildlife crime.

These include:
Support for continuing the existing international ban on commercial trade in elephant ivory.
Renouncing the use of products within governments from species threatened with extinction.
Amending legislation to make poaching and wildlife trafficking
“serious crimes” under the terms of the UN Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime.
Strengthening cross-border co-ordination and support for regional wildlife law enforcement networks.
Further analysis to better understand the links between wildlife
crime and other organised crime and corruption, and to explore links to
terrorism.

The conference heard first-hand from the Presidents of Botswana,
Chad, Gabon and Tanzania, and the Foreign Minister of Ethiopia, who
announced the proposal of an Elephant Protection Initiative to secure
new funding from private and public sources for the implementation of
the African Elephant Action Plan.

The plan includes commitment to an extended moratorium on ivory
sales, as well as plans to put ivory stocks beyond economic use. The UK
Government announced it would provide support to help the Initiative get
up and running.

Botswana has now announced that it will host a further Conference in
early 2015 to review progress against the commitments made in the London
Declaration.

Monday, 10 February 2014

Beijing — Tonnes of illegal animal products have been seized and over
400 suspects arrested in an China-led sting against international
wildlife crime, authorities said on Monday.

The operation cleaned up over 350 cases, capturing more than 3 tonnes
of ivory and its products, over 1,000 hides, 36 rhino horns and a large
number of other wildlife products, said the China Endangered Species
Import and Export Management Office.

The operation, codenamed Cobra II, was co-organized by China, the
United States, South Africa, the Lusaka Agreement Task Force, the ASEAN
Wildlife Enforcement Network, and the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement
Network.

China's authorities, including forestry, customs, police, judiciary
and quarantine departments, put more than 100,000 staff on the
operation, and uncovered over 200 cases involving more than 250
suspects.
China sent enforcement staff to Kenya for the first time, to arrest
an ivory trafficking suspect and host lectures on wildlife protection.